


Painted Songs

by sinful_idiot



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxious Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Concerts, Depression, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Insecurity, M/M, Multi, Music, Musician Lance (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Painter Keith (Voltron), Panic Attacks, Singer Lance (Voltron), Therapy, Will include art, therapist coran
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:01:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27271588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinful_idiot/pseuds/sinful_idiot
Summary: Even though every single one of his muscles, every single cell that formed his body was screaming and begging him to turn around and leave that place forever, he didn’t move.Before he could decide, Lance McClain-Altamirano contemplated the choices that had brought him to that exact moment.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Brief Lance/Plaxum (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Past Allura/Shiro (Voltron) - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is actually my first Klance fic, and I'm really making it as I go, please be patient with me :D

His heart was pounding against his chest, his palms were sweating beyond his control, his whole body shaking violently while his breathing got faster but with every single breath, less air got into his lungs.

He hated feeling that way, he hated being that way, and in that precise moment, his mind was doing an amazing job at reminding him of those facts, chanting, mocking all of his flaws.

_ You’re a disappointment.  _ The voices inside his head didn’t sound like him, it was like a stranger was talking to him, which made the comments hurt a lot more.

_ Are you really going to do this now?  _

_ Great. You’re ruining everything, yet AGAIN. _

_ Why are you like this? _

Even though every single one of his muscles, every single cell that formed his body was screaming and begging him to turn around and leave that place forever, Lance didn’t move.

It was then when he realized he had two options;

One. He could run away without looking back, disappointing everyone, including himself.

This idea seemed incredibly tempting, however, he couldn’t just do it without even considering his other option:

Two. He could man up and face his fears.

Before he could decide, Lance McClain-Altamirano contemplated the choices that had brought him to that exact moment.

–– 32 Hours Earlier--

“Quiznak!” Lance yelled as he furiously shook his hand, trying to reduce the sudden pain that was spreading through his skin.

He hadn’t burnt himself while making coffee since he first started working as a barista. Now his record was broken, not because he was bad at his job, he wasn’t, he was awesome at it actually; but what Nyma had just told him made him lose his concentration. Only for a bit though.

“You want me to do  **what** ?!” His voice sounded higher than usual.

“I need you to sing with me” Lance was about to laugh and tell her to stop joking around, but when he turned around to do so, she caught sight of his blue eyes, and only then did Lance realize she was dead serious.

The way she stared at him made Lance feel stupid, naked, and defenseless.

“No…?” Even if his answer sounded more like a question than a statement, he was sure that he meant to say no, regardless he couldn’t help wondering the reason behind Nyma’s petition.

What the hell was she thinking?!

“Lance, come on! This song is in Spanish, you’re the only person I know who is not only a Spanish speaker but can also sing; You’re the man for the job!” Lance felt flattered, after all his old crush, who just happened to be an amazing singer, had just complimented him on  his singing.

“Besides,” Nyma said, interrupting his train of thought. “You wrote it:”

She grinned, which gave the boy a mixture of feelings of both pride and annoyance. But she had a point. Damn it.

Lance began to think about accepting, after all, this could be his chance to shine as a musician, even if it was a single performance, it was better than nothing. 

Nyma seemed to have realized Lance’s hesitation; because what she said next made all hints of doubt vanish from his mind.

“Don’t you want to have your girlfriend drooling for you? To have her eyes on you and you only while you impress the life out of her with your singing?”

The answer was an absolute yes. Lance would do practically anything to make his ridiculously smart, musical prodigy, flawless skinned girlfriend watch him sing. 

The truth was that Lance liked nothing more than feeling admired and loved by Plaxum.

  
“Fine.” He said, trying his ultimate best to hide how excited he actually was.

“Really? Are you really willing to do it?” Her voice sounded like she truly didn’t expect him to agree.

“But I have some conditions”

She crossed her arms “I’m listening”

“Well, first of all, Plaxum gets a free ticket.”

“Figured.”

“Ah! Bah-bah-bah-bah-bah” Lance’s hand did little opening motions in front of the girl’s face. “I’m not finished. Plax gets a ticket but so does Hunk. And Shay. And Pidge.”

Nyma sighed. “Anyone else?” Lance noticed a slight tone of annoyance in her voice, even if she sounded like she was holding back.

“And another thing.”

“Yes?”

“No more song-stealing Nyma, I know I wrote that song for you, but still, it was pretty shitty of you to have just taken it without credit….... If we’re going to work together, you need to give credit where credit is due. Deal?” He said, extending his hand, waiting for her to shake it.

Nyma thought about it about it for a few seconds, before finally agreeing to Lance’s terms.

“Deal, but you better be there Lance.”

The boy placed his free hand on his chest as an oath, to show her, he was decided.

“We’re practicing today from 5 to 8 and tomorrow’s the concert. Arus. 8 o’clock.”

“That soon?” Lance’s anxiety decided to start kicking in.

“Yes, that soon, but we already have a deal. Don’t. Fail. Me.” Her voice turned cold, making a violent shudder travel through Lance’s back.

“Trust me. I wouldn’t make a beautiful lady wait for me.” His eyebrows wiggled at a ridiculous speed as he finger gunned her, Nyma looked like she wanted to slap him. Fortunately for Lance, she didn’t, instead she just rolled her eyes and left the place.

“Yup. She’s still totally into me.” He said proudly, to himself.

“For her sake, I sure hope she isn’t.” The familiar voice that sounded behind him made him jump in surprise.

“Oh. Hi babe!” Lance’s smile widened when he caught a glimpse of his girlfriend’s eyes and her recently dyed but undeniably beautiful blue hair.

“What was she doing here?” Plaxum’s voice didn’t sound angry at all, actually, it sounded quite calm. Lance felt a warm sensation in his chest. He knew Plaxum was joking and she wasn’t actually jealous, which made him realize how much she actually trusted him because after all, he was indeed a flirt, but that was only for teasing people, he was unconditionally faithful to his partner, and Plaxum knew that.

“She just came to ask me a favor”

“Which was?” Lance couldn’t help letting out a small chuckle, even if she wasn’t jealous, it was no secret the fact that Plax did not like Nyma. At all.

“Well… since, you know, I’m the one she gets her lyrics from, and can actually sing in Spanish,” Lance’s voice sounded doubtful when he said those words. “She asked me to sing with her at her concert.”

“Oh my God! That’s amazing! Did you accept?” 

“Yeah, I actually surprised myself; anyways I managed to get you a free ticket. Are you free tomorrow at 8?”

“Yes, of course. Where is it?”

“Arus.” Lance realized he was hesitant of telling Plaxum, he was afraid of embarrassing himself in front of who he thought was the most perfect person ever.

“Great. By the way, when does your shift end?”

“In about two hours. Why?”

Plaxum’s face got dangerously close to his, close enough to notice how she smelled, she smelled like oranges. A small smile appeared on Lance’s face, he loved her smell.

“You should stop by later.” She said before winking.

Lance's not so innocent mind began to wander into the darkest corners of his imagination.

He was sure he was blushing. Hard. And Plaxum seemed to have realized this fact because she then proceeded to playfully kiss her boyfriend.

Lance was sure he could die.

_ Fuck it. What a good way to go. _

Lance broke the kiss, which was probably for the better since he was still working and they were in public. But that didn’t mean he was satisfied. Not. At. All.

“I love you.” The words left his mouth almost automatically, it was fine though, it wasn’t like he didn’t mean them.

It was then when he not only discovered that daydreaming about his girlfriend while being at work was a really bad idea, but he also discovered the fact that people were assholes, well, not people, more like a person. A really grumpy person who had a freaking mullet.

  
. . .


	2. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emo boy is here!

“No way in hell.” Keith’s voice sounded harsher than he expected, but Shiro needed to know that he was not agreeing to the stunt he was trying to pull.

“Keith, I know you’re scared, but” Shiro, as always remained completely calm, which caused Keith to become even angrier.

“I’m not scared! It’s just that I don’t want to go to the fucking shrink, Shiro! I’m not crazy, I don’t need it!”

“No one said you were, I’m just saying it might help you with what you’re going through. But you won’t know if you don’t even try it” Keith both loved and hated the way his brother made him feel safe. “Please Keith, I worry about you.” His gentle smile made matters even more fucking difficult for Keith.

Damn it. He was going to give in to Shiro. Again.

Keith let out a frustrated groan. “FINE! I’ll give it a shot. But just one chance, Shiro, if I don’t like this whole Dr. Phil bullshit, I’m out and you never mention the subject again. But since I’m actually going to this thing, I’ll need a ride, so you could, I don’t know, maybe consider giving Red back to me?”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, which meant Keith was most definitely not getting his bike back.

“You know you’re still grounded, so don’t insist on that. Other than that, it’s a deal. I’ll drive you to the hospital, your first appointment is with Dr. Coran on Monday at 5.”

“Can’t wait.” His indifferent sarcasm made Shiro let out a soft laugh.

Keith hated feeling like a burden, especially for Shiro and it was then when he realized that was the main reason why he had accepted going to therapy, he was getting really sick and tired of worrying Shiro.  
Regardless of this growing feeling, Keith wasn’t sure if he was ready to speak about his demons, even with a therapist, he had been repressing his feelings for way too long to just let them out with a complete stranger.

Even thinking about it made him feel extremely uneasy, and every time he felt like that, there was only one way to calm him down; painting, but what made Keith’s painting habits different from the average artist, was that Keith would not paint on canvases; he would paint on walls, most of the time his bedroom walls. Every two weeks Keith Kogane would paint his heart out on those walls and when his whole room was covered with whatever was tormenting his mind, he would start over by adding a coat of white paint.

Those walls knew him better than himself.

  
That day was no exception and thus, with his hair tied up in a small ponytail and his fingerless leather gloves removed, Keith began to paint.  
He painted until his wrists hurt; until his hands were covered with many different colors, he painted until Shiro basically ordered him to leave his room.

He usually wouldn’t listen to him, and keep on painting but he was overwhelmed; he definitely deserved an extremely needed coffee break.

Even though Keith loved coffee, he was really demanding and picky with its flavor, he even had a little survey to decide which coffee was the best, and surprisingly enough, only one place met his expectations, a very small café called Balmera.

What made this place so perfect for Keith, aside from the coffee, was the fact that people were actually nice, also it was conveniently close to his college... former college.

Even if it was approximately his thousandth time going there, that day felt particularly weird for him, after all, it was the first time going there after being kicked out of school, he felt kind of pathetic, not having gone to his favorite coffee shop for two months just because he was depressed. So having gathered all the courage he could find inside him, Keith opened the door, and as soon as he did, the familiar smell of coffee got inside his nose, he couldn’t help but express a little smile, he had really missed that place.

As he walked to the counter, Keith was able to see some people he recognized, however, he decided to avoid all type of contact with them, he didn’t want to deal with judgmental stares and pity talks, he had seen his share of those throughout his life, but that didn’t make it easier for him, no matter how hard he pretended he didn’t care.

The walk to the counter felt like an eternity; he tried to walk there as fast as possible, but not fast enough to catch people’s attention, so when he reached his destination, Keith was able to breathe again, however that had only been the easy part, he still needed to actually order and to do that, he would have to speak to the barista, which caused him more anxiety than he allowed himself to admit.

He approached the counter with his heart beating worryingly fast and with his palms sweating in a ridiculous way, he opened his mouth to speak without even looking at the person behind the register. “Can I please have a black coffee?”, his voice sounded almost like a whisper but he was sure he spoke loud enough for the guy to hear him, however, he didn’t get an answer.

Keith raised an eyebrow while he looked up to see the barista, and well, he didn’t expect at all what he saw; right in front of him was probably the most gorgeous guy he had ever seen, his skin was a beautiful cinnamon color and his nose splattered with freckles, but what amazed Keith the most were his eyes, he was sure he had never seen a blue so mesmerizing as the one that resided in the boy’s eyes, but his expression made Keith want to smack him across that beautiful face; he looked completely lost in thought, wearing a dumb grin, and he was sure he saw hearts in those eyes and it was then when it hit him, the realization that this guy was fantasizing and thinking not so innocent things.

Suddenly, Keith’s anxiety and worry got replaced by an overwhelming feeling of complete annoyance directed towards the barista, ‘What is this guy’s problem?’ Keith had made his best effort to talk to him, the least he could do was pay attention, he was a client for fucks sake!

He was about to yell at the asshole in front of him, but then he remembered that doing it would cause a scene and people were there, but most importantly it would give Shiro another reason to send him to therapy. ‘No. I am better than this.’  
He took a deep breath and said; “Can I have a cup of coffee?” He spoke in a slow voice, full of bitterness, which caught the attention of the other boy, who looked at Keith directly in the eye, looking absolutely disoriented, but his expression suddenly changed into one that he couldn’t quite recognize, but now that they were looking at each other’s eyes, Keith was able to appreciate how smooth the stranger’s skin seemed to be.

There was a moment in which time just stopped and everything and everyone disappeared, Keith felt a mixture of emotions; he was still angry of course, but he also felt scared and nervous, but also he felt stupid and flustered, but before the stranger could draw him in any further, he broke eye contact and actually remembered the situation, the guy in front of him was still an inconsiderate prick who was still ignoring Keith, a fact that he would not let go even if the barista was now smiling and making him feel even weirder than before, and then, almost out of nowhere, the guy began to talk.

“Hi, the name’s Lance,” he said as he put his chin in his hand and maybe he was delusional, but Keith was pretty sure he saw his eyebrows wiggling.  
“How can I help you?” Lance made a subtle emphasis on the words I and you.

And that was fucking it.

Keith was done.  
Was this guy actually serious? Wasn’t he just the victim of a terrible prank? Was he being recorded? Or was this guy just a grade-A douchebag?

The wink that came out of the barista, made him realize it was the latter.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck.” He noticed his voice had a tone of both disbelief and rage, but he couldn’t give less fucks about that fact.  
The sudden change in attitude startled Lance and made his face contort into a confused expression, which made Keith even angrier than before.

“Excuse me?” Lance stared directly into Keith’s eyes, however, this time, there was no magic moment, no nervous feelings, and no, definitely no time-stopping.  
There was only anger.

“Oh, sorry did I upset you?” Keith crossed his arms, being really careful of not breaking eye contact with Lance at any moment, he wanted to intimidate the other boy, and yes, it was childish and immature, but as many say, you can only fight fire with fire.

Lance scoffed, his chest puffing abruptly. “Uh, yes you did, asshole. I literally haven’t done anything but my fucking job and yet you come here with a stick up your ass.”

“Doing your job?!” He needed to calm down. “Yeah, because drooling and looking like an idiot is part of the job description as a barista.”

“Just tell me what you want.” The boy behind the counter pouted.

“A black coffee.”

“Oh, like your soul, I see.”

Keith almost reacted to that, but then he realized that was what this guy, Lance, wanted. And he would not give him the satisfaction.

He paid for his drink with exact change, no tip for this prick, he knew it was petty, but honestly, he didn’t give a damn.

He was scrolling through his text messages with Pidge, his best friend when he heard an annoying voice yell:

“Black coffee for Asshole with the Mullet!”

Of course, everyone there turned their heads when hearing that.

Keith contemplated just not going, but he really, really needed caffeine in his system.

Swallowing his pride, he walked up to the counter and snatched the cup out of Lance’s hand.

“You better have not spat in it.”

The barista wore a proud smirk on his face.

“Wouldn’t you like it, mullet.”

He almost crushed the cup in his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I will be uploading new chapters as soon as I can, as well as the playlist and art I created for this fic.


End file.
